Berry marketing company Driscoll’s have vowed to investigate allegations made in an article in the Guardian that workers picking fruit destined for the firms in the Odemira region of Portugal were working “illegally long hours… for less than the minimum wage.”
According to the original article, ‘In two visits between September and November 2021, the Guardian spoke with more than 40 men and women from India and Nepal, employed either directly or through intermediary agencies, on farms across Odemira, a region to the south of Portugal that bustles with south Asian restaurants and international money transfer services.
‘Evidence seen by the Guardian suggests that workers who were either underpaid or worked more than the maximum overtime limit were employed by at least three farms which supply their berries to European supermarkets through the California-based berry seller Driscoll’s.’
A spokesperson for Driscoll’s told Fruitnet, “We are aware [of the] recent media publication regarding labour conditions in the Portuguese Odemira region. As a family-owned business, we fully understand our responsibility to provide a framework for decent working and living conditions for workers throughout our supply chain.
“We are committed to growing in harmony with the environment and the communities we depend on. We want to ensure the harvesters picking our berries are treated with respect and dignity.”
Nick Allen, chief executive of Berry Gardens, which sells Driscoll’s branded fruit in the UK, said, “As a business, we are committed to ensuring all the fruit that we supply to UK retailers is grown, harvested, packed, and distributed with care for the environment and respecting all those people involved in the supply chain.
“We take allegations such as those raised in this investigation very seriously. In this case, all Driscoll’s farms noted will have had independent annual ethical audits which cover all aspects of social practice, on top of the relevant government inspections which are an essential part of our due diligence processes. We are currently working with all those parties involved to fully investigate and address the claims made.”
Photo credit: Driscoll’s